Disclosed is a self-powered vibration damper based on piezoelectricity and a control method. The damper comprises a loading platform, an energy collecting mechanism, a curved leaf spring, a vibration control mechanism and a substrate all connected in sequence, the circuit system comprises a rectifier circuit, a DC-DC voltage conversion circuit, an energy storage circuit, a control circuit and a charging battery, a first piezoelectric stack is connected with the input end of the rectifier circuit, the output end of the rectifier circuit is connected with the input end of the DC-DC voltage conversion circuit, the output end of the DC-DC voltage conversion circuit is connected with the input ends of the energy storage circuit and the charging battery, the output end of the energy storage circuit is connected with the input end of the control circuit, the output end of the control circuit is connected with the second piezoelectric stack.

A charging system which charges a power storage device mounted on a moving object, includes: an electric power conversion device that converts electric power supplied from a commercial power supply; a kinetic energy storage device that stores kinetic energy; and a rotary electric machine that is electrically connected to the electric power conversion device and is mechanically connected to the kinetic energy storage device.

The present invention relates to exterior or interior doors for residential or commercial buildings, such as for a home, apartment, condominium, hotel room or business, and, more particularly, to a door provided with a rechargeable battery as a source of electrical power that may be used to operate electric devices mounted to the door. The door has electric devices attached thereto. The electric devices which. are powered by one or more rechargeable batteries that are charged by one or more energy harvester systems and/or by direct connection to a power source. A system for distributing the power collected from the energy harvester system and/or the wired connection are also provided.

An energy harvesting system is disclosed that is especially well-suited for use on aerodynamic systems such as guided projectiles or other aerobodies. A series of piezoelectric cantilevers are arranged to capture vibrations from the ambient environment and transduce the mechanical motion from the vibrations into useful electrical energy. The piezoelectric cantilevers can be arranged along different planes from one another to capture different vibrational modes and directions. A power conditioning circuit is included to receive the electrical energy produced by the piezoelectric cantilevers. A storage element coupled to the power conditioning circuit is configured to store charge based on the electrical energy produced by the plurality of piezoelectric cantilever structures. The stored charge can be used to provide low levels of power to certain electrical components on board the aerodynamic system before it has been launched.

A wind generator assembly for harnessing wind to charge batteries in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles includes a housing that is mounted on a roof of a vehicle. The housing has a wind passage extending therethrough and wind passes through the wind passage when the vehicle is driven. A turbine is rotatably positioned in the housing. The turbine is positioned in the wind passage and the turbine is rotated by wind passing through the wind passage. A generator is mounted in the generator space and the generator is in mechanical communication with the turbine. Thus, the turbine rotates the generator when the turbine rotates thereby facilitating the generator to produce electrical current. The generator is electrically coupled to batteries in the vehicle to charge the batteries.

A device includes a signaling means and a motion sensor, and logic for activating or controlling the signaling means in response to a sensed motion according to an embedded logic. The device may be used as a toy, and may be shaped like a play ball or as a handheld unit. It may be powered from a battery, either chargeable from an AC power source directly or contactless by using induction or by converting electrical energy from harvested kinetic energy. The embedded logic may activate or control the signaling means, predictably or randomly, in response to sensed acceleration magnitude or direction, such as sensing the crossing of a preset threshold or sensing the peak value. The visual means may be a numeric display for displaying a value associated with the count of the number of times the threshold has been exceeded or the peak magnitude of the acceleration sensed.

A device includes a signaling means and a motion sensor, and logic for activating or controlling the signaling means in response to a sensed motion according to an embedded logic. The device may be used as a toy, and may be shaped like a play ball or as a handheld unit. It may be powered from a battery, either chargeable from an AC power source directly or contactless by using induction or by converting electrical energy from harvested kinetic energy. The embedded logic may activate or control the signaling means, predictably or randomly, in response to sensed acceleration magnitude or direction, such as sensing the crossing of a preset threshold or sensing the peak value. The visual means may be a numeric display for displaying a value associated with the count of the number of times the threshold has been exceeded or the peak magnitude of the acceleration sensed.

A kinetic energy harvesting device implementing a half-wave mechanical motion rectification (HMMR) mechanism is described. The energy harvesting device may include an energy harvesting railroad tie, where the tie includes a tie housing configured to be coupled to at least one rail. The tie housing includes at least one spring and at least one energy harvester. The at least one energy harvester includes a generator having an output shaft, a gearhead, a ball screw or other motion transmission, and a one-way clutch. Under a force of a passing wheel on the at least one rail, the at least one energy harvester is compressed, which causes a rotation of the ball screw or other motion transmission, a rotation of the output shaft, and a transmission of torque to a shaft of the gearhead, driving the generator in a unidirectional rotation to generate electrical power via the one-way clutch.

A compact surveillance system that includes: a power source configured to provide power to the system; a power input coupled to the power source 9 and configured to provide power to the system; one or more sensors configured to measure a measurand; a Loosely Coupled Transformer (LCT) transducer coupled to the one or more sensors and the power source, the LCT configured to receive an external signal and convert the external signal to an electrical signal; a processor in electrical or magnetic communication with the one or more sensors, the processor configured to process the electrical signal, generate information relative to one or more of progress against predictive behaviour of selected from one or more of: corrosion; fatigue; temperature; flow and environment; with the wireless transfer system transferring information to a remote Loosely Coupled Transformer LCT transducer and converts sensor data input to information using modelling; an information storage device configured to store the information or data input, the information including processed data, pre-processed data and predictive models, with a resultant output of models is stored; and where the LCT transducer is configured to transfer the information, the information being generated based on a measurand to reduce a transfer energy in the system.

A mobile device charging apparatus includes a mobile device case including an electrical adapter configured to connect with a charging port of a mobile device. An access port is in electrical communication with the electrical adapter. A mechanical wheel is positioned in the mobile device case. The mechanical wheel is in electrical communication with the electrical adapter. A tether is in communication with the mechanical wheel. The tether is configured to translate a mechanical force to the mechanical wheel to generate electricity. The mechanical wheel is configured to provide an electrical current to the mobile device to charge the mobile device.